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Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski sent a letter to EU agriculture ministers last week calling for the most flexible use of resources from the envelope for rural development programs (RDPs). Wojciechowski said that some states have unfortunately almost exhausted funds from the second pillar, others according to him are already actively looking for the possibility of using the remaining resources. According to Wojciechowski, some € 6 billion are available across Member States, which have not yet been spent under the RDP. The Commissioner said that RDP resources could support investment on farms in processing, marketing or food packaging, but could also be used to finance initiatives outside agriculture - for example, to invest in local infrastructure or to support mobile health facilities in rural areas. However, the Commission has not yet planned to activate market measures in accordance with the CMO Regulation, but last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that farmers need further support to continue their activities - for example, she mentioned reducing administrative burdens.
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Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said on 07/04/2020 that the presentation of the Farm to Fork Strategy and other parts of the European Green Deal is likely to be postponed again due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Commissioner further said that he considers it to be premature to limit the import of products into the EU to support European farmers. The Commission should consider import quota limits in the future, especially for beef from America and Australia.
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The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) discussed the transitional period of the CAP on 06/04/2020. The SCA has approved a negotiating mandate for a transitional period, which allows the Council to negotiate in the European Commission, Parliament and Council trialogues. The European Parliament's opinion is now pending - the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development should approve the draft opinion 27-28 / 04/2020, and the European Parliament's plenary should then adopt it on 14/05/2020; it will also be necessary to know the outcome of the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2021-2027 before negotiations in trialogues. The resulting agreement could thus be reached under the Croatian Presidency. Within the SCA, most Member States agreed to support a one-year transitional period, but experts expect that one year will not be enough. The actual length of the transitional period will be discussed in the trialogue.

The Special Committee on Agriculture on 06/04/2020 also discussed the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on agri-food markets, with a focus on dairy products, beef and veal, fruit and vegetables, and wine. SCA members supported the introduction of market measures for the sectors concerned, which will face a sharp price slump in the coming weeks. The representatives of NL BE, and DE stressed the need to provide support for the fresh flower sector, while FR, ES, IT, HU, SI, and AT stressed the need to provide support for wine. Most experts agreed on the need to allow a private storage scheme for dairy products. Representatives of the European Commission stated that the Commission closely monitors the market situation but has not yet prepared any specific sectoral measures. According to Commission representatives, the agri-food sector is not one of the sectors most affected by the crisis, and the allocation of additional funding is unlikely.
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Germany will take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Croatia from July 2020, but Germany's priorities will be significantly affected by the current coronavirus crisis and its impact on the EU economy. In addition to the coronavirus pandemic, Germany should pay attention to negotiations on trade relations with Great Britain following Brexit, the reform of the CAP, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the European Green Deal, the Forestry Policy, or the Biodiversity Strategy. If Croatia fails to reach agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU budget will also be included in the list of the DE Presidency's main priorities.

The European Dairy Association (EDA) has called on the European Commission to introduce market measures to support the dairy sector by the end of April 2020. Skimmed milk powder prices have fallen from € 2300 per tonne to just € 1800 in the last few days, a further fall in prices according to the association could lead to the use of the European intervention mechanism. In this context, Irish MEP Mairead McGuiness (EPP) asked Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, to address the situation immediately.
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